Kokako management folder THREATENED SPECIES OCCASIONAL PUBLICATION 19 Kokako management folder THREATENED SPECIES OCCASIONAL PUBLICATION 19 By Ian Flux and John Innes Published by: Biodiversity Recovery Unit Department of Conservation P. O. Box 10420 Wellington, New Zealand Prepared by Ian Flux1 and John Innes2 1 Science & Research Unit, Department of Conservation, PO Box 10-420, Wellington 2 Landcare Research, Private 3127, Hamilton ISSN: 1170-3709 ISBN: 0-478-22038-2 © 2001 Department of Conservation Cover photo: North Island kokako, Puketi Forest, Northland, 1981. Photo by Rogan Colbourne. This folder has been prepared as a guide for authorised people involved in management of kokako, or management of areas containing kokako. In the main they will be Department of Conservation staff (including volunteers), or staff of organisations who work in partnership with the Department of Conservation. Any planned management project for kokako must be discussed with the recovery group leader and the appropriate land administrators; the necessary permits must be obtained. The intensive integrated-management regime, which we advocate for kokako, has been widely adopted by managers of lowland forest communities. We hope and believe that kokako will increasingly be managed at sites which are nationally, or regionally, recognised for their wider conservation values. To this end all new management sites recommended by the current kokako recovery plan have been selected in consultation with regional managers and other species recovery groups. In the shorter term, however, it will be necessary to manage some sites particularly for kokako, to ensure population recovery and maintenance of maximum genetic diversity within the species. The information contained is up to date at the time of publication. These are methods which have been widely used in kokako projects; we consider they are current “best practice”. Technology will change, and experience and innovation will provide new methods over time. At some sites compromises may have to be reached if any conflicts arise between different management objectives. The kokako recovery group will endeavour to update sections of this document as it becomes necessary. Before planning any project based on advice given here, please check with the recovery group leader that you have the most recent update of this work. CONTENTS 1. Recovery plan issues and actions 7 2. Current recovery strategy 9 3. Project design 13 4. Kokako surveys 17 4.1 Walk-through survey 17 4.2 Territory mapping 18 4.3 Roll-calls 18 4.4 Adult census 19 4.5 Juvenile surveys 21 5. How to find and monitor nests 25 6. How to determine stage of nesting and age chicks 27 7. Banding and other handling procedures 29 8. Nest protection 35 9. Nest climbing and filming guidelines 37 10. Predation sign: examining and interpreting failed nests 39 11. Policies for acceptable poison bait types and for allowable poison by-kill 45 12. Dealing with dead or injured kokako (including eggs and chicks) 61 13. Kokako transfers 65 APPENDICES Appendix 1 A modified harness design for attaching transmitters to birds 69 Appendix 2 Kokako nest record sheet 71 Appendix 3 Banding and measurement record 73 1. Recovery plan issues and actions The following issues and actions section is reprinted from the Kokako Recovery Plan (1999). This section is intended to provide the conceptual setting within which individual kokako management projects are contributing to the national recovery goal. LONG-TERM GOAL To improve the status of North Island kokako from endangered, by restoring the national population to ca 1,000 pairs by the year 2020, in sustainable communities throughout the North Island. Separate populations shall average 50 pairs and shall be managed together with the diverse communities in which kokako were previously recorded. 1. Issue Fewer than 400 pairs of kokako currently exist. Populations are small and isolated. Kokako occurred naturally throughout the North Island, and true recovery will involve their restoration to sites throughout this original range. Some populations have been reduced to such small numbers that harmful genetic bottlenecks may be occurring, and others declined to extinction. Translocation of birds from elsewhere may be required in both cases. Nationally, recovery will be achieved most efficiently if key sites for kokako management are clearly identified. Action Choose key mainland sites as places to manage or establish populations. Planning must identify a source or sources of kokako to translocate to new sites, and must consider the conservation of all current kokako genetic lineages. 2. Issue There are still many uncertainties about the most effective ways to manage kokako for the next 20 years, especially in very large (>10,000 ha) forest blocks, and regarding translocations. Key research can increase efficiency of management practices. Kokako ecology at individual, population and community levels is not fully understood, nor are details of our management techniques and strategies. Action Undertake key research to underpin sustainable management. Research topics are detailed in the work plans. 3. Issue Offshore island populations are usually safe from the predatory mammals that make kokako recovery on the mainland so expensive, but some details of the number and origins of translocated kokako required for the population to be successful are still uncertain. Threatened Species Occasional Publication 19 7 Action Monitor offshore island populations and be prepared to translocate further birds if necessary. 4. Issue Some populations (e.g. Taranaki, western Waikato, Coromandel) are or may be reduced to one or two (predominantly male) birds. Left alone, extinction of the populations and loss of their particular genetic lineages are certain. 5. Issue It is difficult to advocate for kokako management in the wild because many of the populations are in remote places so that wild kokako can be hard for the public to see or hear. Action Hold kokako in captivity for breeding and reintroduction in an attempt to preserve some of the genetic variation held within the remnant populations. Hold kokako in appropriately constructed and vegetated aviaries and promote them to support advocacy for active management of kokako in the wild. 6. Issue Kokako conservation is everyone’s responsibility. The New Zealand public have a right to full information about what we are doing, and many people (especially those living adjacent to management sites) wish to be actively involved in kokako projects. The long grind of pest control to achieve the 2020 vision of kokako restoration will only be sustainable if the interested public remain involved and informed about our work. Action Promote public interest and involvement in kokako conservation, by ensuring good public access to populations and using media to assure a free flow of information about kokako projects. Support and encourage partnerships between DOC and other like-minded groups which are prepared to work for kokako conservation. 8 2. Current recovery strategy We start this planning period (1999–2020) knowing: 1. That the immediate cause of mainland kokako decline is recruitment failure due to predation by ship rats and possums at kokako nests 2. That these declines can be reversed, by intensive and sustained pest control using existing technology. These two findings of the last 10 years’ research and management are the key to future recovery for the whole population. The vision of 1000 pairs by 2020 CAN BE ACHIEVED BY METHODICAL APPLICATION OF WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW. Any future improvements to the efficiency or effectiveness of current pest control methods will only make the job easier. The main strategy of this Plan is to apply pest control to at least 20 mainland sites (Table 1) so that, on average, there will be about 50 pairs in each. Some (Rotoehu, Otamatuna-Onepu) already have more than this but must be sustained or increased. Others (e.g. Trounson Kauri Park) are unlikely to ever reach 50 pairs, due to their smaller area. We hope that more sites than those listed in Table 1 will be managed, but the listed sites are the required minimum to be managed if the recovery vision is to be achieved. The sites are scattered evenly through different Conservancies, partly to spread the work load and partly because this reflects the natural range of the species. Very large forest blocks such as Te Urewera National Park, the north block of Pureora Forest Park, and some forests in Northland are in some ways the ‘final frontier’ for kokako conservation. Recovery techniques for kokako were developed in small- medium sized blocks and their extension to very large areas is essentially experimental. However, large forests offer most to kokako conservation in the long term because the ecological community of which kokako are only a part is intrinsically large-scaled. New populations, and the infusion of new genetic lineages to bottle-necked populations, can only be achieved by translocations (Table 2). Threatened Species Occasional Publication 19 9 10 TABLE 1: KEY SITES WHICH ARE REQUIRED TO BE MANAGED SO THAT THE GOAL OF THE KOKAKO RECOVERY GROUP CAN BE MET BY 2020. CONSERVANCY SITE ECOSYSTEM RECENT REQUIRES NEW PEST RESTORATION OR TRANSLOCATION TARGET PROJECT CURRENT (SOURCE) INDICES KOKAKO MET BY MGMT Wellington Kapiti Island • ongoing Mt Bruce Forest • • (central NI) • 2002 Wanganui Whitecliffs • • 2005 East Coast/Hawkes Bay Otamatuna/Mangaone • • ongoing Onepu • • • ongoing Ikawhenua • ongoing Boundary Stream